DRYDEN, Ont. — The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is working on a suppression plan for a rapidly-expanding forest fire near the community of Summer Beaver, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

The lightning-caused blaze was confirmed on Monday, and has grown to over 3,500 hectares in what the MNRF calls "a relatively short timeframe."

It is located about 19 kilometres northeast of Summer Beaver, and is currently burning away from the community.

A second fire in the area, also confirmed on Monday, is 220 hectares in size and is burning about 10 kilometres southeast of Summer Beaver.

The ministry discovered five smaller fires on Monday in the Nipigon, Dryden, Kenora and Red Lake districts.

The current fire hazard is predominantly high in northwestern Ontario, with pockets of extreme hazard in the Red Lake and Sioux Lookout districts, and low to moderate conditions in the Thunder Bay, Quetico and North Shore areas.

More than 150 MNRF personnel from the Northwest Region are now assigned to fire duty in the Northeast Region, where the forest fire situation is more serious.

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